Haydn Gwynne obit

Haydn Gwynne: Drop the Dead Donkey and The Windsors star dies aged 66

She was not on the list.

English actress Haydn Gwynne, known for roles in TV shows including Drop the Dead Donkey, Peak Practice, Merseybeat and The Windsors, has died aged 66.

She also had an acclaimed stage career, being nominated for both Olivier and Tony awards in the West End and on Broadway for Billy Elliot the Musical.

She was Queen Camilla in TV royal spoof The Windsors, and played ex-PM Margaret Thatcher on stage in The Audience.

Her co-star from that 2013 play, Dame Helen Mirren, led the tributes.

"Haydn was a delight as a person and a consummate dedicated actress," she wrote on Instagram.

Referring to Gwynne's performance in The Audience, Dame Helen added: "She was both funny and serious at the same time, a brilliant balancing act that her whole career exemplified.

"We will miss her very much."

In a statement on Friday, her agent said: "It is with great sadness we are sharing with you that, following her recent diagnosis with cancer, the star of stage and screen Haydn Gwynne died in hospital in the small hours of Friday 20 October, surrounded by her beloved sons, close family and friends.

"We would like to thank the staff and teams at the Royal Marsden and Brompton Hospitals for their wonderful care over the last few weeks."

Gwynne broke through in TV drama Nice Work in the late 1980s before finding wider fame and a Bafta nomination for playing cynical and stoical journalist Alex in topical satire Drop the Dead Donkey.

Two decades later, she was back on Channel 4 in comedy The Windsors, playing Camilla as "clearly the soap opera villainess".

That was reflected in her costumes, which were designed "as if she were played by Joan Collins in a 1980s version".

"In a way that was very freeing, because it meant I didn't have to go off and do serious research," Gwynne said. "I could just have full fun with it."

Another royal TV show came along when the actress portrayed Lady Susan Hussey, who resigned from the royal household following a racism row, in the fifth series of Netflix's The Crown.

Her other TV parts included Dr Joanna Graham in Peak Practice, Supt Susan Blake in Merseybeat, and Julius Caesar's wife Calpurnia in the BBC's Rome.

Paying tribute, playwright Jonathan Harvey described her as "a gifted and versatile all rounder".

Fellow writer Jack Thorne said she was "the kindest, loveliest soul and a wonderful performer", adding: "She gave everything to everything."

Musical star and radio presenter Elaine Paige called Gwynne "so young, so talented", adding she had known the actress for 30 years. "There'll be a bright star in heaven tonight. RIP dear Haydn."

Hercule Poirot actor David Suchet worked with Gwynne in an episode of the ITV detective show, and called her "an extraordinary person and brilliant actor" .

Actor Samuel West also paid tribute, saying: "This is a terrible loss. One of the nicest and one of the best."

National Theatre artistic director Rufus Norris, who directed her in The Threepenny Opera in 2016, said she was "an amazing woman and artist" who was "universally beloved and respected".

He said: "Her unique combination of wit, wickedness, grace and fearless craft was a complete joy to be in a room with."

Varied career

Gwynne grew up in rural Sussex and her father was an Irish printer called Guy Thomas Hayden-Gwynne.

She studied French at university before moving to Italy, where she lectured in English at the University of Rome.

Acting initially seemed too insecure to pursue professionally, but she eventually "came out of the closet" - as she once put it - and decided to go for it. "I gave up my job, got rid of my apartment, gave away all my furniture, and came home."

Returning to England, she wrote to every theatre company she could and was eventually offered a break in 1984 by writer and director Alan Ayckbourn in His Monkey Wife.

That led to more shows including West End musical Ziegfeld, an expensive flop in 1988.

"My biggest regret is that I didn't keep a daily diary," Gwynne once said. "The most extraordinary things happened.

"The star and the director were fired after press night, it was rewritten. It did have its moments - my costume was worth £10,000 - but mainly it was agony. I cried myself to sleep most nights."

But things got better - she received her received first Olivier nomination for the musical City of Angels in 1994, and spent seasons with the Royal Shakespeare Company in 94 and 95.

She played dance teacher Mrs Wilkinson when Billy Elliot the Musical launched in the West End in 2005, and stayed on when it transferred to Broadway.

The role was originally played by Julie Walters on screen, but on stage Gwynne said the character was "very upfront and quite rude, a bit more so than I remember from the film".

Speaking about her varied career, Gwynne told the Telegraph in April she could sing and dance - but doing them together was the hardest part.

"They say tragedy is tough? Forget Medea, two shows of Billy Elliot a day is the very definition of gruelling!"

Gwynne received two more Olivier nominations - for the stage version of Pedro Almodóvar's film Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown in 2015 and The Threepenny Opera.

Her versatility was again demonstrated earlier this year when she played a version of Dame Prue Leith in The Great British Bake Off Musical, and was Stanley Baldwin - prime minister in the 1920s and 30s - in a play called When Winston Went to War with the Wireless.

The actress was due to appear in a new London production of Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends in September, but withdrew nine days before the first preview because of what were described at the time as "sudden personal circumstances".

The show's producer Sir Cameron Mackintosh said Friday's performance would be dedicated to Gwynne, who he described as a "truly wonderful person, as well as a phenomenally talented actress and singer".

 

Actress

Haydn Gwynne, Harry Enfield, Hugh Skinner, Morgana Robinson, and Richard Goulding in The Windsors (2016)

The Windsors

7.2

TV Series

Queen Camilla

Camilla

2016–2023

20 episodes

 

Elizabeth Debicki in The Crown (2016)

The Crown

8.6

TV Series

Lady Susan Hussey

2022

1 episode

 

Aidan Turner in The Suspect (2022)

The Suspect

6.8

TV Series

Ann

2022

1 episode

 

The Canterville Ghost (2021)

The Canterville Ghost

6.2

TV Series

Lady Deborah de Canterville

2021

1 episode

 

Urban Myths (2017)

Urban Myths

7.2

TV Series

Joni Evans

2019

1 episode

 

Sope Dirisu in Coriolanus (2018)

Coriolanus

5.4

Volumnia

2018

 

Alan Davies, David Walliams, Amit Shah, and Oliver Zetterström in The Midnight Gang (2018)

The Midnight Gang

6.2

TV Movie

Matron

2018

 

This Is the One

Short

Cheryl

2017

 

Kevin Kline, Ewan McGregor, Emma Thompson, Stanley Tucci, Ian McKellen, Audra McDonald, Emma Watson, Josh Gad, Dan Stevens, Luke Evans, and Gugu Mbatha-Raw in Beauty and the Beast (2017)

Beauty and the Beast

7.1

Clothilde

2017

 

National Theatre Live: The Threepenny Opera (2016)

National Theatre Live: The Threepenny Opera

8.2

Mrs. Celia Peachum

2016

 

Paul Nicholls and Sheridan Smith in The C Word (2015)

The C Word

7.5

TV Movie

Jane McFarlane

2015

 

Father Brown (2013)

Father Brown

7.8

TV Series

Professor Jane Milton

2015

1 episode

 

Jerome Flynn and Matthew Macfadyen in Ripper Street (2012)

Ripper Street

8.1

TV Series

George Tait

2014

1 episode

 

Jamie Bamber, Ben Daniels, Robert Glenister, Bill Paterson, Bradley Walsh, Harriet Walter, and Freema Agyeman in Law & Order: UK (2009)

Law & Order: UK

7.7

TV Series

Madeline Morgan

2014

1 episode

 

Ben Miller in Death in Paradise (2011)

Death in Paradise

7.8

TV Series

Charlotte Doran

2014

1 episode

 

Uncle (2012)

Uncle

7.8

TV Series

Joan

2014

1 episode

 

Amanda Burton, Emilia Fox, Sam Barnard, David Caves, and Genesis Lynea in Silent Witness (1996)

Silent Witness

7.9

TV Series

Helen Ferguson

2014

2 episodes

 

The Audience (2013)

The Audience

8.6

Margaret Thatcher

2013

 

Minnie Driver in Hunky Dory (2011)

Hunky Dory

6.2

Miss Valentine

2011

 

Annette Badland, Neil Dudgeon, and Nick Hendrix in Midsomer Murders (1997)

Midsomer Murders

7.9

TV Series

Maggie Viviani

Jennifer Carter

2004–2011

2 episodes

 

Hollow (2010)

Hollow

7.9

Short

Child Welfare Officer

2010

 

Alun Armstrong, James Bolam, Amanda Redman, and Dennis Waterman in New Tricks (2003)

New Tricks

7.9

TV Series

Sara Hamlyn

2010

1 episode

 

Martin Freeman and Benedict Cumberbatch in Sherlock (2010)

Sherlock

9.1

TV Series

Miss Wenceslas

2010

1 episode

 

Kenneth Branagh, Alan Cumming, Vincent Price, Rufus Sewell, David Warner, Rosalind Ayres, Dennis Burgess, Andrew Cruickshank, Joanna David, Anthony Dutton, Peter Dyneley, John Flanagan, James Hayter, Joan Hickson, Alison Key, Cyril Luckham, Ferdy Mayne, Julia McKenzie, Ben Miles, Kenneth More, Ronald Pickup, Gene Shalit, David Suchet, Gwen Watford, Martin Compston, Caterina Murino, Cosima Shaw, and Kimberley Nixon in Masterpiece Mystery (1980)

Masterpiece Mystery

8.9

TV Series

Miss Battersby

2010

1 episode

 

Drop the Dead Donkey (1990)

Drop the Dead Donkey

8.0

TV Series

Alex Pates

1990–2008

24 episodes

 

Player

7.0

Short

Marion

2008

 

David Suchet in Poirot (1989)

Poirot

8.6

TV Series

Miss Battersby

Coco Courtenay

1991–2008

2 episodes

 

Laurence Fox and Kevin Whately in Inspector Lewis (2006)

Inspector Lewis

8.2

TV Series

Sandra Walters

2008

1 episode

 

Lullaby

7.1

Short

Mother

2007

 

Consenting Adults (2007)

Consenting Adults

7.2

TV Movie

Mary Cohen

2007

 

Rome (2005)

Rome

8.7

TV Series

Calpurnia

2005–2007

5 episodes

 

Terence Stamp, Anjelica Huston, Andrew Lincoln, Zoë Tapper, and David Leon in These Foolish Things (2006)

These Foolish Things

5.4

Aunt Ada Fitzgerald

2006

 

Absolute Power (2003)

Absolute Power

8.1

TV Series

Helena Greaves

2005

1 episode

 

Dalziel and Pascoe (1996)

Dalziel and Pascoe

7.4

TV Series

Dr. McKenzie Mansfield

2005

2 episodes

 

The Heat of the Story (2004)

The Heat of the Story

Short

2004

 

Merseybeat (2001)

Merseybeat

6.2

TV Series

Supt. Susan Blake

2001–2002

25 episodes

 

The Secret (2002)

The Secret

7.1

TV Series

Emma Faraday

2002

2 episodes

 

Peak Practice (1993)

Peak Practice

6.4

TV Series

Dr. Joanna Graham

1999–2000

38 episodes

 

Human, All Too Human (1999)

Human, All Too Human

7.5

TV Mini Series

Narrator (voice)

1999

2 episodes

 

The Canterbury Tales (1998)

The Canterbury Tales

6.6

TV Series

Venus (voice)

1998

1 episode

 

Nigel Le Vaillant in Dangerfield (1995)

Dangerfield

5.9

TV Series

Amanda Carr

1998

1 episode

 

Verdict

TV Series

Lynn Durban

1998

1 episode

 

John Thaw in Kavanagh QC (1995)

Kavanagh QC

7.7

TV Series

Mary Armstrong QC

1998

1 episode

 

Remember Me? (1997)

Remember Me?

5.4

Jamie's Wife

1997

 

Hospital! (1997)

Hospital!

7.5

TV Movie

Victoria Barking

1997

 

The Merchant of Venice

6.1

TV Movie

Portia

1996

 

Meetings Bloody Meetings

Short

1993

 

The Pleasure Principle (1991)

The Pleasure Principle

5.9

Judith

1991

 

Haydn Gwynne and Kenneth Hall in Time Riders (1991)

Time Riders

5.3

TV Series

Dr. B. B. Miller

1991

4 episodes

 

Nice Work (1989)

Nice Work

8.2

TV Mini Series

Dr. Robyn Penrose

1989

4 episodes

 

After the War (1989)

After the War

6.5

TV Mini Series

Hilde Hirsch

1989

1 episode

 

Ten Great Writers of the Modern World (1988)

Ten Great Writers of the Modern World

8.7

TV Mini Series

Mme. Chauchat

1988

1 episode

 

Steve Bisley, David Bamber, Dermot Crowley, and Dulice Liecier in Call Me Mister (1986)

Call Me Mister

7.2

TV Series

Bridget Bartholomew

1986

6 episodes

 

A Very Peculiar Practice (1986)

A Very Peculiar Practice

8.4

TV Series

Donizetti

1986

1 episode

 

Ian McShane in Lovejoy (1986)

Lovejoy

7.9

TV Series

Cosima

1986

2 episodes

 

Ian Charleson and Julie Walters in Car Trouble (1986)

Car Trouble

4.9

Ticket Girl

1986

 

What Mad Pursuit? (1985)

What Mad Pursuit?

7.2

TV Movie

Shirley Benedict

1985